Speaking Up Is Hard To Do
by tearthgrrl
Summary: Ed finds out that some animals are best left unspeaking. Rated T for some graphics. Warning: A little shorter than my last story. Same as always though, R&R!
1. Lightning Strike!

Here it is, my second lion king fan fic! Like most I'll write in the future, it has T in it. Not saying anymore, you'll just have to read it!

* * *

On a hot day in the Serengetti, an antelope herd was grazing in the fields. The adults were on the outside while the babies were eating, running, or playing, in the middle. Little did they know, they were being watched... 

Suddenly, a cry rang out from one of the mother antelopes and the rest of the herd ran for their lives. The lead antelope made sure the mother and baby caught up before joining the rest of the herd.

Suddenly, a frightened cry was let out from one of the injured antelope. They all looked behind them to see four hyenas chasing it down.

The herd knew nothing could be done and ran away from them. The four hyenas then cornered the antelope, and the lead female pounced on it and grabbed its neck in her jaws.

* * *

_Later that day... _

Shenzi, Banzai, Ed, and their newly dubbed clan member, T, were chomping down on the antelope they caught for lunch.

"Aw man, this is great!" Banzai said as he finished another bite and went to get another hunk of meat.

"Yeah, I could eat antelope everyday." Shenzi said as she licked her lips. Ed laughed.

"Mm hmm." T said for she still had her mouth full. Suddenly, thunder clapped. The four looked at the sky.

"Aw man." Banzai said.

"So much for a long lunch." Shenzi said. Then she looked over her right shoulder and saw a cave close by.

"Ed! T! Help me and Banzai drag this over ta that cave over there." Shenzi said. Ed and T obeyed and the four dragged the carcass to the cave.

In the cave, the four finally finished the carcass off and were waiting for the storm to blow over. Shenzi was watching out of the mouth of the cave.

The other three were trying to pass the time by getting the blood and bits of meat off their muzzles. Finally, Shenzi grew impatient.

"Forget this, let's just make a run for the cave. A little rain won't melt us." Shenzi said getting up and looking back at the other three as she went to the mouth of the cave.

"But it's thundering." T said.

"So? A little thunder never hurt anybody." Shenzi said. Then, Shenzi jumped back as lightning flashed through the savanna and at the same time another clap of thunder rang out.

"Lightning on the other hand..." Banzai said, a smirk on his face. Shenzi let out an annoyed sigh and went to the back of the cave where everybody else was waiting the storm out.

She took a spot in the back of the cave with Banzai on her left and Ed on her right, T was on the edge of the group, on everybody's left.

The four watched as another clap of thunder rang out and another flash of lightning illuminated the savanna. Thunder clapped again, Ed whimpered.

"Just a little thunder Ed." T told him.

"Just be grateful 'e can't talk, otherwise he'd be ballin' 'is eyes out right now." Banzai said. Shenzi bonked him on the head. Ed babbled in his gibberish language.

"Wha'd he say?" Shenzi said.

"He said he could talk if he wanted to." T said.

"Yeah, right." Banzai said.

"Y'know what Banzai if you don't knock it off in about three seconds I'm gonna-!" Shenzi was cut off when it started to rain harder, pounding on the roof of the cave.

Then another boom of thunder rang out along with another flash of lightning that illuminated the cave with a blinding white light.

Ed whimpered and moved to the back of the cave as far as he could. He whimpered again as he watched the rain pour down.

When another thunder clap and lightning flash happened Ed jumped up and shrieked, then ran behind a rock. He peered from behind it, scared.

"Ah, quit bein' a pup!" Banzai said to him. T looked at Shenzi, who was lying down. The four looked up at the cave roof when the pounding on it stopped.

"Looks like the rain let up." Shenzi said. Then the four went out of the cave. Ed followed behind the other three, looking at the ground the whole time.

_"I really could talk if I wanted to." _Ed thought to himself.

**(A/N **if Ed ever thinks)

He looked up at the sky, and felt a little nervous; although the rain had stopped there were still some dark clouds left.

Ed walked a little faster. Suddenly, thunder clapped again. The four stopped in their tracks.

"Just make a run for home!" Shenzi said and all four started running in the direction of their cave.

Ed struggled to keep up but about ninety-eight percent of his attention was focused on the dark clouds above him.

Then suddenly, Ed saw another flash of light. He yelped and stopped himself in his tracks, too scared to move.

Then right after he did, he saw another flash of light, only this time is was HUGE.

Ed suddenly felt hot and cold at the same time and he was completely frozen in place. His muscles tightened, and it felt like something just shot through his forehead, to his right shoulder, through his leg, and right to the ground.

Then suddenly he felt himself hitting the ground below him, hard. Although it had rained a lot the mud was very thick. And he could feel an enormous pain in his head as he hit the ground.

"ED!" he heard three voices say. But before he knew what else was happening, Ed blacked out.

* * *

So...too graphic? R+R! 


	2. First Words

Ooh, let's hope Ed's ok!

* * *

"Ed! Ed! Ed!" the three yelled, trying to wake up his unconsious body below them. They had ran to him after watching in horror as they saw Ed get struck by lightning. 

"Aw man, please don't die Ed!" Banzai said. Shenzi and T looked worried.

"Who's gonna make fun 'a Shenzi behind 'er back with me now?!" he finished, yelling at the sky. T cocked an eyebrow at Banzai after hearing him and Shenzi gave him a look after hearing him.

"Heh heh." Banzai laughed nervously when he realized Shenzi was giving him an angry look.

T thought she could hear faint weasing, and looked back down at Ed. And after looking very hard she saw him breathing.

"Hey hey, he's breathing!" T said. Shenzi and Banzai quickly turned their heads towards Ed.

"Ed? Ed?" T and Banzai said. Finally, Shenzi thought up an idea to wake Ed up. She pushed Banzai and T aside. Then, she made her paw into a fist and wacked Ed on the head.

Ed quickly raised his head up, his face showing pain, and rubbed his aching head.

"It worked!" Shenzi said. Ed stopped rubbing his head and looked at his three friends. Shenzi and Banzai were looking guilty.

"Uh, sorry Ed." they said in unision, looking at the ground.

"I guess I shoulda made everybody go back ta the cave when it started thunderin' again." Shenzi said, then she looked at Banzai, who was quiet.

Shenzi looked annoyed at him and elbowed him in his arm.

"Ow!" Banzai said, rubbing his arm. He looked at Shenzi, who looked at Ed. Then Banzai knew what she wanted him to do.

"Yeah and I guess I went a little far on the 'you can't talk' comments." Banzai said, looking away and rubbing his arm, he still looked mad from Shenzi's elbowing.

"But look on the bright side; you're part of a handful 'a hyenas, who got struck by lightning, and lived." T said, smiling. Ed was quiet for awhile, then smiled at his friends.

"Well that's ok, I know if you guys thought this was gonna happen you wouldn't've made me go out." Ed said.

T's mouth opened in surprise, exposing her sharp teeth, Shenzi and Banzai's eyes widened and they were stunned to silence. After a moment, T spoke up.

"Ed...did you just...?" she couldn't say anymore. By this time Shenzi and Banzai's jaws were dropped.

"Did I just what?" Ed asked her. Then when he heard himself, he looked just as surprised as the other three.

"Hey, I can talk!!" Ed said excitedly.

Shenzi and Banzai fainted.

* * *

_A few minutes later..._

Shenzi and Banzai's unconsious bodies laid before Ed and T as they tried to revive them.

"Shenzi! Banzai!" they both yelled, trying to wake them up. Ed winced as he grabbed his throat. T could tell he was in pain. Finally, Shenzi and Banzai peeled their eyes open and saw T and Ed above them.

"Oh good, you're awake." T said. Shenzi and Banzai just groaned as they got up.

"You guys ok?" Ed asked them in a scratchy voice. Shenzi and Banzai suddenly remembered what happened and their eyes widened at Ed again. Ed saw this.

"Hey hey, don't do_ that_! You guys'll black out again!" Ed said, then let out a dry cough. T looked at Ed.

"Is that really your actual voice?" she asked him.

"I dunno, but my throat feels really sore." Ed said, holding onto his neck.

"You're probably just not used to usin' your voice like this." T said.

Ed looked at Shenzi and Banzai, their eyes weren't wide anymore.

Ed smiled akwardly at his friends. Shenzi and Banzai looked at each other, then back at Ed.

"I wonder how the clan's gonna take this." Shenzi said.

"Can we stop at a water hole on the way?" Ed said, still holding his throat.

* * *

The four walked through the Serengetti, past a lot of hyena homes that were in the area. 

"Hey look, it's Ed, the expert on gibberish!" one of the meaner hyena females said as they walked by. She and a few of her also mean friends laughed. Shenzi, Banzai, and T just gave them cold glares.

But Ed, who had gained newfound confidence along with his new voice, boldly walked up to her. The female cocked an eyebrow at him as he walked up, but Shenzi, Banzai, and T looked uncomfortable.

"Does _this_, sound like gibberish to you?" Ed said to her, in a clear voice now, due to the four stopping by a water hole on the way back home.

The female was speachless; her eyes were wide open and so was her mouth. The rest of the clan had also heard it and looked just as shocked.

T thought she could make out Abendi and Kamau in the crowd, looking at Ed very surprisedly, although they were probably the only ones who had their mouths closed, but their eyes were wide.

Fed up with the akwardness, Shenzi walked up to beside Ed.

"Uh c'mon Ed." she said, grabbing his arm with her paw.

"Let's go before ya make a scene." she said leading him away. Banzai and T looked at each other, they both thought it was a little late for that, but they followed them back to the cave.

* * *

"This is great! I never even thought I _had _an actual voice!" Ed said as the four ate dinner, a wilderbeast they had caught earlier. 

"Neither did we." Shenzi and Banzai said, looking at each other.

"So, whaddya gonna do with your new voice tomorrow?" T said to Ed while he ripped another hunk of meat off the wilderbeast.

"I dunno, maybe go make fun 'a everybody who made fun a' me back when I couldn't talk." Ed said between bites.

"Yeah, you sure know how ta dish-out payback." Shenzi and Banzai said sarcastically.

* * *

_The next day..._

Half of the clan was out in the plains hunting for their families and friends, while the other half was busy cleaning up their new home, by dragging the bones and brush from their caves and dens.

Shenzi, Banzai, and Ed were on the edge of the plains, part of the hunting half, while T was back at their cave, part of the cleaning half.

"So what're we goin' after today?" Ed asked Shenzi.

"Well before we do anythang, you gotta know ta shush it when we go huntin'; you're gonna get unwanted attention from our lunch." Shenzi said to him.

"That's not the only unwanted attention he's gettin' 'cause 'a his mouth." Banzai whispered to Shenzi so Ed couldn't hear.

Shenzi looked over Banzai's shoulder and could see a lot of hyenas whispering and looking at Ed, some were pointing.

"Hey, whatcha guys lookin' at?" Ed said, blocking their view.

"Uh, nothin'!" Shenzi and Banzai said, quickly turning their heads away. A few more hyenas whispered and some shook their heads at Ed like him talking wasn't natural.

Ed heard faint talking and turned around, the hyenas quickly stopped talking and turned their heads. Ed looked confused and turned back to Shenzi and Banzai.

"Hey, you guys ever get the feelin' people are talkin' about ya behind your back?" Ed asked them.

"All the time." Banzai said. Shenzi elbowed him in the ribs.

"Ow!" Banzai rubbed the aching area with his paw.

"No, what makes ya think that?" Shenzi said, fake smiling and looking around. Ed looked back at the hyenas he heard, they weren't talking anymore but Ed still had his suspicions.

Shenzi and Banzai looked at each other. Shenzi decided to break the tension.

"So uh, those zebras ain't gonna hunt 'emselves." Shenzi said. Then the three turned to the fields, Ed walked up ahead, back to his normal self. Shenzi and Banzai looked at each other again, but caught up to him.

* * *

The trio licked their lips at the sight of all the zebras in the field in front of them. They were trying to pick out the perfect one to take back to the cave. 

But as Ed was helping Shenzi and Banzai, he heard whispering and snickering behind him.

"Will you three just cut it out?" he heard a male's voice say.

"You're about as mature as Monifa and Gituku were." he heard another voice say, this time female.

He turned around to see Abendi and Kamau with three snickering hyenas, they were in their hunting party. The couple looked like they were annoyed with the three, which were two females and a male.

But all five of them stopped what they were doing when they saw Ed looking in their direction. Abendi and Kamau looked nervous.

"Somethin' goin' on here?" Ed asked Abendi and Kamau.

"Uh no, we were just-" the two were cut off when one of the females spoke up.

"So Ed, rumor has it since you got an actual voice now you're just as smart as every other hyena around here." she said.

"I was before, only difference was I couldn't talk like everybody else." Ed replied.

"Now if you'll excuse me, I'm gonna go help my friends pick out a zebra." he finished, turning to go back to Shenzi and Banzai.

"Fine. It's just that I thought you'd be able to put it to better use." the female finished, looking over her claws. Ed stopped walking and turned around to her.

"Put what to better use?" he said to her.

"Well," the female began, still inspecting her claws,

"if you were _really_ as smart as every hyena around here, you'd _do_ something smart.

So smart it'd make everybody start thinkin' about you differently from now on." she finished, looking up from her claws at him.

"I thought talking itself was enough." Ed said.

"If ya only wanna go halfway." the female scoffed.

"Alright, that's enough." Abendi said to her.

"Ed, don't pay any attention to her." Abendi finished, looking at him. But Ed already looked like he was deep in thought. Then, he looked up like he just had an idea.

He walked back to Shenzi and Banzai, he failed to notice the female smirking behind him, and her two friends laughing. Abendi and Kamau looked mad at them, but then turned to Ed, they looked nervous as they wondered what he was going to do.

Ed walked up to Shenzi and Banzai and saw them whispering and pointing to a young zebra that had trouble getting to its feet. Ed figured that was the one they wanted.

Then it came to him; Ed had never caught a zebra all by himself before, and maybe that's what would convince the clan he wasn't an idiot.

So Ed crouched down a few feet behind Shenzi and Banzai, then when he felt the moment was right, he ran past his two friends in a flash and went after the zebra.

He snapped at its heels and it ran away from him as fast as it could.

"Ed!" he heard two sharp, angry whispers call out his name from the tall grass, but he knew it was too late to turn back now. He continued to chase after it until he was surprised to see it stop.

Then he looked up above the baby and saw its mother looking at him angrily, as did all the other zebras that were standing behind her. Ed gulped.

The zebras let out angry cries and ran towards him, Ed turned tail as fast as he could and ran for his life. Shenzi and Banzai, along with the rest of the clan, saw this and ran too.

Ed caught up with his two friends and the trio ran as fast as they could away from the angry stampeding zebras. He could see a lot of the other hyenas running away from the zebra herd too, looking scared.

Finally, he felt himself being jerked aside and found himself in an abandoned den dug out under a rock. He looked to his right and saw Banzai letting go of his arm, then knew Banzai was the one who pulled him out of the stampede's way.

Shenzi was there too, she was on Banzai's other side. The three watched as a complete sea of zebra hooves trampled everything in their path.

Finally, the stampeding stopped and the three cautiously made their way out of the den. They sighed in relief when they saw there weren't anymore stampeding zebras. Then Banzai turned to Ed, angrily.

"Man, what were you thinkin'?!" he said to him. Shenzi also looked mad.

"I just wanted ta catch us lunch." Ed said.

"I saw you guys pointin' at that baby zebra and-" Ed was cut off by Shenzi.

"What?! We were pointin' at 'im so we _wouldn't_ go after 'em! That kid's mom is way beyond psycho! But I guess you already know by now, huh?" she said to Ed.

Then the three heard angry voices behind them and turned around to see the rest of the hunting clan coming out of their hiding places.

Some were trying to get the dirt and dead weeds from their fur while the others were looking angrily at Ed. Shenzi and Banzai forgot all about their own anger and refocused their attention on making sure the clan didn't rip Ed apart.

"He never made a zebra stampede back when 'e _couldn't_ talk!" they heard an angry male hyena say.

"Or nearly get us all trampled either!" they heard an angry female hyena say. Soon the whole hunting clan was crowded around the trio but Shenzi and Banzai stood their ground in front of Ed.

"Alright shut up for a minute!" Shenzi yelled at the crowd. Then hyenas quieted down a little.

"Now I know that we ain't exactly used ta Ed talkin' all of a sudden but give 'em a break ok? He's new at it." she finished.

"Yeah! I mean the guy screws up _one time_. But what about all the times you guys made fun of 'em even when 'e wasn't?!" Banzai said. The clan was silent.

"Look the herds obviously ain't comin' back for today so let's just go back to the other half of the clan and help 'em clean up home." Shenzi said.

So the hunting part of the clan walked back to their new homes. But some hyenas still glared at Ed as they walked past him. Ed saw Abendi and Kamau in the crowd too, they looked at him with their usual emotionless faces, but didn't say anything and just walked on.

Ed looked at his two best friends for comfort, but all he got were two angry looks from the both of them. Then Shenzi and Banzai walked on ahead. Ed glumly followed behind them, looking at the ground the entire way.

So far, his first entire day of being able to talk was _not_ going good.

* * *

R+R! 


	3. Gone Fishing

Looks like talking isn't exactly as great as Ed thought it would be. Oh well, maybe things'll look up in this chapter.

* * *

T dragged a big, dead tree limb from the cave as she was cleaning up the place. She looked down and saw the other half of the clan coming back. 

The rest of the cleaning part of the clan also saw this and looked puzzled; the hunting clan members didn't have any food with them.

This was the Pridelands, not the graveyard, so they should've at least made one kill. T stretched out her neck a bit to see more, but wasn't watching the tree limb that was still in her mouth.

Suddenly, some rocks gave way under the limb's heavy weight and the branch fell from the cave towards the ground, bringing T along with it.

* * *

Back at the hunting half of the clan, the trio were making their way towards their cave. But they stopped when they heard what sounded like a scream, strangely getting louder and louder. 

"Ahhhhhhhhhhhh!!"

"What the?" the three said in unision as they looked up towards the mouth of their cave. Then their eyes opened wide as did their mouths when they saw a huge branch falling towards them.

They jumped back just in time before it came crashing to the ground. T fell onto one of the smaller branches on the limb, which bounced up and down when she landed on it.

Shenzi, Banzai and Ed looked surprised.

"Uh, hi." T said, nervously smiling and slightly waving her left paw at them.

"Man, what is this?! 'Try ta kill Shenzi and Banzai day'?!" Banzai said, looking at T, then at Ed.

"Whoa the clan looks really bummed out." T said, noticing all the frustrated and disappointed hyenas making their way back to their homes.

"What happened?" she asked them. Shenzi and Banzai looked at Ed.

"Let's just say _you'll_ be goin' with us the next time one half 'a the clan goes huntin'." Shenzi said to T, and by 'us' she meant herself and Banzai.

Ed just looked at the ground. T looked at her friends, and noticed how hungry they looked. She prefered to eat game but drastic times called for drastic measures.

She got her footing on the branch she was on, and jumped off it. Then she walked up to the trio.

"You guys know how ta fish?" T asked them.

* * *

T stepped into the clear blue water at the watering hole. Despite it being hot on that day, the water was pleasingly cool. 

"We aren't big cats T!" Shenzi yelled from the bank, because T was far out in the water.

"Yeah we only eat the ones with hooves, not the ones with fins!" Ed yelled to her as well.

"Ok. You, don't talk." Shenzi said to Ed.

"Yeah, we don't need another stampede goin'." Banzai said. T ignored the two hyenas verbally ripping Ed to shreds and stared at the clear water below her, concentrating.

She didn't move a muscle, or took her eyes off of the water beneath the shadow of her head. Finally, she could make out a somewhat decent sized, green fish swimming around in between her front legs.

T carefully waited for the right moment, then quick as a flash slammed her right paw into the fish, sending it out of the water and onto the bank near the trio.

Shenzi and Banzai stopped critisizing Ed when they saw the fish flopping in front of the three of them.

"Hurry up and get it before it flops back in the water!" T said to them. The three just looked at the fish that was madly flopping at their feet.

Finally Ed brought his head down to the fish and clamped his jaws around it, its head and tail were sticking out of the opposite sides of his mouth.

Then he started to bite harder on the wiggling fish in between his upper and lower jaw. Then, after a moment, Ed opened his mouth and let the fish fall to the bank, dead, from Ed's crushing canine teeth.

He looked at Shenzi and Banzai. Then two more fish landed in front of them. The trio looked to T, who had a fish in her mouth.

"How many 'a those thangs are ya gonna catch?!" Shenzi yelled over to her. T quickly slurped down the fish so she could reply.

"Enough for the four of us!" she said, coming back.

"Thanks, me and Banzai are gonna go back ta the cave." Shenzi said, in a normal tone as T was in hearing range now.

"Yeah we'll wait 'till later." Banzai said and the two left.

"Hmmm." T said as she smacked one of the flopping fish she had caught back into the water hole. She looked up at Ed.

"Aren't ya leavin' too?" T asked him.

"Nah, what's the point?" Ed said.

"If I go back with 'em all those two are gonna do is get on my back about the hunt today. Besides, I guess I could _try _fish at least." he finished.

T smiled and snapped at the other flopping fish on the bank and caught it in her jaws. Ed grabbed the one he had killed as well and both slurped the two fish down.

"Not bad." Ed said with a shrug. T licked her lips, it wasn't perfect to her either. But to her and Ed, food was food, as long as it was meat.

Then the two heard splashing and saw two lions, and a meerkat and warthog across the water hole from them. The meerkat was lying on his back on the warthog's stomach, and the warthog was lying on his back in the water.

The two lions, who were Simba and Nala, were getting a drink. Then Nala looked up and saw them.

Then she raised her head up and nudged Simba with her paw. Simba looked at her and Nala looked towards the two hyenas. Simba saw them and gave them a quick smile, just enough to satisfy Nala.

Then he went back to getting a drink. Nala did as well. T turned to Ed.

"Still hungry?" she asked him.

"Naw I think I'm gonna go sleep in the plains for awhile." Ed said turning around. Simba and Nala were shocked when they heard Ed speaking, and both their heads shot up to look at them.

Pumbaa even looked surprised, although he was facing away from the hyenas he looked up and saw which hyena was talking, which caused him to suddenly fall in the water, taking Timon with him.

"Ahhh!" Timon let out a short shriek before going down with him. T and Ed looked over to the two lions, who still looked appalled.

"Yeah, I talk now." Ed said, smirking. T meerly smiled at the two lions. Simba and Nala were quiet.

"Well, come over." Ed said, knowing the two would want to ask questions about how Ed could suddenly speak words. Simba and Nala didn't hesistate to do so.

"What happened?" Simba asked them when he and Nala got there.

"Ed just got struck by lightning and it gave him the ability ta talk." T said, like it was no big deal.

"Are you alright?" Nala asked him, worriedly.

"I'm fine. It's not everyday I get struck by lightning though." Ed replied. Then T got a look on her face like she just noticed something.

"Hey uh, shouldn't your two little friends have come-" T was saying to Simba until she was cut off when everybody saw Timon and Pumbaa lunge out of the water, onto the bank, gasping for air.

"Nevermind." T said.

"Well, how is your first day of speaking going for you?" Nala asked Ed.

"I could always speak. This is my first day of everybody actually being able to understand me." Ed replied.

"Oh, sorry." Nala said.

"You don't gotta apologize for everything. You say 'I'm sorry' every time you talk ta somebody." Ed said.

"Oh, so-" Nala started to say then stopped herself when she realized what she was doing. T and Ed meerly smiled.

"Well uh, we better get back to the clan." T said, turning around.

"Ok. Give my best to Shenzi and Banzai." Nala said.

"Oh I'm sure they'd love to hear from you." Ed said sarcastically. Then he and T left.

Simba looked a little annoyed about what Ed said, but Nala didn't look offended.

After all, she did know Shenzi and Banzai, particularly Shenzi, more than anybody else did.

* * *

Next chapter's comin' up soon! R+R! 


	4. The Public's Opinion

To Erinbubble92: I really like your stories about the hyena trio, and it's good to see you reviewing mine again! PM me sometime!

* * *

"Am I hearing things or was the idiot hyena just speaking proper English?" Timon said as he and Pumbaa were walking over to them after T and Ed left. 

"Timon, that's a terrible thing to call someone!" Nala scolded him.

"I'm just saying. It's not everyday ya hear the guy talking." Timon said.

"He has a point." Simba said. Nala looked at him.

"Well I think it's great." Nala said to him. She did think it was great, but she wasn't smiling.

"All this time of everybody not being able to understand him and now he can finally speak." she finished.

"Somehow I don't think that's a good thing." Timon said.

"C'mon Timon, ya can't help but wonder what he has to say after all this time." Pumbaa said.

"Whatever it is, it can't be good." Timon said.

* * *

"AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAOW!" came a pain-filled yell from in the middle of the plains. By this time it was already night. 

"I guess taking a trip through the flowered thorn bushes to pass the time-" T began with a big thorn in her mouth, she was pulling thorns from Ed's back, then she spat it out,

"-wasn't exactly the _best_ idea I've had." she said, looking away and rubbing her neck. Then she leaned over and pulled another thorn from Ed's back.

"OUCH!!!!" he said, fighting back tears.

"Is that all of 'em?" he said. He didn't hear T answer.

"T?" he said. Then suddenly, he felt fur being ripped out of two places on his back.

"AHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH!!" he said, his paws shot up to the painful areas. Then turned his head around.

"How and why did you-?!" he stopped talking when he saw Shenzi and Banzai with two thorns in their mouths, along with a few patches of his fur, smirking at him.

"That's all of 'em." T said quietly, showing herself from behind them. Ed took his paws from the painful areas on his back and put them back down on the ground. Shenzi spat out the thorn she pulled.

"Don't worry, your fur'll grow back...eventually." Shenzi said to Ed as Banzai spat out the thorn he pulled.

"How'd you guys know we were out here?" Ed said to his two friends.

"Well it wasn't hard." Shenzi scoffed.

"Yeah, we could hear it all the way back at the cave! It sounded like somebody killin' a woodpecker with a chimpanzee." Banzai said.

"If you two came here just ta give me a hard time I'm gonna sleep _outside_ the cave tonight." Ed said as he looked away and crossed his arms.

"I wouldn't. The clan's still pretty ticked about the hunt today." Shenzi said.

"Well I'm so sorry! Pardon me for trying to make my friends happy!" Ed said angrily, looking at them.

"If you _really_ wanted ta make us happy, you'd 'a shut-up and waited for me ta tell ya what ta do!" Shenzi said, also angry.

"Instead 'a runnin' off like some kinda idiot!" Banzai said, just as angry as Shenzi.

"Oh I'm always the idiot aren't I?! Whether I can talk or not!" Ed said, then got up and started walking away from the three.

"Where're you goin'?!" Shenzi and Banzai yelled to him.

"I'm goin' back to the cave! Maybe _that'll_ make ya happy!" Ed yelled back. Then stomped off.

"Fine! Go ahead!" Shenzi and Banzai yelled. Then sharply turned their heads away from Ed as he walked away. T looked uneasy, by this time she was on Shenzi and Banzai's left.

She looked from the two, to Ed. Then started following him.

"No just, leave 'im alone." Shenzi said, waving her left paw at T, not bothering to look at her though. T stopped from going any further and looked at the two.

"Yeah he'll come around." Banzai said.

"Give the guy some time." Shenzi said, getting up. Banzai got up too and both of them started walking away in the opposite direction Ed was headed.

T looked back in Ed's direction, but he was already gone, so she followed the two. It wasn't long though before the three ran into a familiar couple.

"Isn't it a little late for you two ta be out?" Shenzi said, smirking at them. Abendi and Kamau quickly turned their heads toward them, surprised.

"Actually, we were looking for you three." Abendi said. Then she and Kamau looked around.

"Ed's not around is he?" she asked.

"Nah, the drama queen went back ta the cave." Shenzi answered.

"Good 'cause we arranged a meeting with the king and queen of the Pridelands about you know what." Abendi said.

"Why?" the three asked her.

"You'll see." Kamau answered. Then the couple turned around to walk away.

"If you come." he looked back at them. The three looked back in the direction of their cave, then back at Abendi and Kamau.

"Eh, why not? Ed's probably doin' better without us anyway." Shenzi said, then the five hyenas walked to Priderock.

* * *

"You said you wanted to talk about Ed's new ability to talk." Nala said to Abendi and Kamau. They were all talking in a cave at Priderock. 

"Yes." they answered.

"What about it?" Simba asked them.

"It's wrong." Abendi immediately said. Simba and Nala looked surprised.

"To put it bluntly." Shenzi, Banzai, and T said in unision about her comment.

"It's just that we all sorta liked it better when he could only laugh. It was like he was really in touch with his hyena roots." Abendi said.

"And we're not saying we're not happy for the guy. We're just saying that it came a little too fast for all of us." Kamau said.

"Well whaddya expect? The guy hasn't talked in a real long time and all of a sudden he's talkin' like there's no tomorrow!" came a voice from the mouth of the cave.

Everybody looked over to see Timon and Pumbaa walking in. Shenzi, Banzai, and T heard what they thought were two hyenas trying to stall laughter.

They looked over and saw Abendi smiling but trying to hide it, and Kamau looking away from them. One look at Timon and the couple remembered that faithful night when their matriarch was asked for her paw in marriage.

T looked confused but Shenzi and Banzai looked annoyed. Finally Abendi and Kamau saw Shenzi and Banzai looking at them angrily, and quickly stopped stifling their laughter because there wasn't any anymore.

"I just think it'd be better if things went back to normal." Abendi said.

"Well whaddya want us ta do about it!? Take 'em out whenever there's another lightning storm and _hope_ it strikes 'im again?!" Shenzi and Banzai said.

"And also hope it won't kill 'em either!?" Shenzi said.

"I got an idea." T said quietly. Except for the comment she said along with Shenzi and Banzai, up until now she had been silent the whole time. Everybody looked at her.

"Why not let Ed decide? It's really _his _choice ta make." she finished.

"Maybe." Shenzi and Banzai said, looking around.

"But we couldn't ever ask that from Ed." Shenzi said.

"Yeah, the guy's stuck by us as far back as we can remember." Banzai said.

"And 'e's like a brother to us." Shenzi and Banzai said in unision.

"Well it sounds to me like you don't really need to ask him to choose whether he wants to talk or not, you just need to ask him what _he_ wants." Nala said.

"Ask 'em what he wants." Shenzi said, looking like she was in thought.

"For the first time in forever, we're actually gonna ask Ed what he wants." Banzai said.

"That's gonna shock 'em more than the lightning." they said in unision.

* * *

"I'm glad you two're goin' through with this." T said as the three walked back to the cave. 

"Yeah well it ain't gonna be easy." Shenzi said.

" 'Specially if Ed's asleep." Banzai said.

"If he's asleep, we'll wait 'till tomorrow." Shenzi said. By this time they were close to the entrance.

"Do you two want me to give you some privacy? Or go off somewhere for awhile? Yeah I think I'll just go now and let you guys talk." T said, turning around to leave.

"You're spendin' _way_ too much time with the lions honey. If ya ask me it's makin' ya go soft." Shenzi said.

"Would a female who went soft be able ta take down a wilderbeast?" T said.

"With help from the three of us." Shenzi and Banzai reminded her, a little attitude said in it.

"Yeah well, lemme know what happens." T said, walking away.

"T you'll be the first hyena ta find out." Shenzi said, knowing she'd ask first. Then after T left Shenzi and Banzai walked up to the mouth of their cave and looked inside.

Then they saw a shape that looked like Ed, looking at them. They looked harder and were surprised to see how sad he looked. Ed sniffed twice, it was obvious he'd been crying a bit.

"Just leave me alone." he said, covering his face with his right paw and looking away from them.

"Hey, what's wrong?" Shenzi asked softly.

"I thought you were glad you could talk like everybody else." she finished.

"Of course I am." Ed said, turning back to them.

"It's just that ever since I started everybody's been lookin' at me like somethin's wrong with me." he finished.

"Well they look at ya like that anyway." Shenzi and Banzai said in unision.

"Yeah but it's in a different way now." Ed said, looking at the ground.

"Y'know, ya _could_ do somethin' ta make it die down." Banzai said. Ed sniffed again and looked back up at his friends. Shenzi and Banzai looked at each other.

"Ed, are you happier talkin' like everybody else than you were when you couldn't?" Shenzi asked him.

"Where're you gettin' at?" Ed asked her. Shenzi and Banzai looked at each other again.

"I'm just wondering." she said quietly, shrugging her shoulders. Ed turned away from them.

"I dunno." he said.

"Ya could try talking like ya did before." Banzai suggested.

"I already tried while you were gone." Ed said, turning back to them.

"And?" they asked him.

"I can't." he said, looking defeated. For a minute, they were all quiet. Finally, Shenzi spoke up.

"Ed, no matter what ya choose, we'll always be your friends." she said. Ed looked at them. After a moment, he smiled at them. They smiled back.

* * *

T walked back to the cave a few minutes later. She was a little confused when she didn't hear any voices coming from inside. 

Then she looked in the cave, and smiled at what she saw.

The trio were snugly curled up together, asleep. Shenzi in the middle, Banzai wrapped around her back, and Ed curled by her stomach. They always slept like that on cold nights, but tonight it wasn't cold.

T knew everything between the three was going to be just fine.

* * *

Read and Review! 


	5. And He Is, Outta Here!

Yeah, I know, the last chapter was kinda mushy. But at least things are starting to look up for Ed. _Or are they?_

* * *

The next day Ed was in the plains with the rest of the clan, eating breakfast. Shenzi, Banzai, and T had went to the waterhole for a drink. 

The hyenas had forgotten all about the hunting incident, and just ate the gazelle carcasses the hunting parties had caught that morning.

At least, _some_ of them were. Because when Ed shifted his eyes up from his haunch, he could see four hyenas whispering and pointing at him.

Then he looked another way, and saw two hyenas talking. One was whispering in the other's ear, the other hyena gave her friend a questioning look, and he pointed at Ed, after which, the female laughed.

Ed tried to ignore it and just went back to eating the carcass. But he still heard the whispering and it was driving him crazy. Why couldn't those hyenas just accept that he could talk?

Finally, he looked over and saw Abendi and Kamau, talking with two other hyenas. The hyenas looked like they wanted to know something, and Ed knew it was about him. He also knew Abendi and Kamau were telling them but didn't want him to know.

So he raised his head up to look at the couple. He could hear a chorus of shushes as he looked up. When the four hyenas saw them looking at him they quickly turned away.

"Y'know all this time you all've been givin' me a hard time 'cause I couldn't talk. Now that I can, it just got even worse!

Well here's the deal everybody; I _can_ talk now! And unless you all decide ta kill me, I don't think there's anything we can do to change that!" he yelled.

The clan was quiet. Finally, a female hyena spoke up.

"It's not that we ain't happy for ya Ed." she stated, at which, the clan nodded.

"It's just that now that we know what it sounds like ta hear ya talk, we've decided we like the old you better." she finished. The clan nodded again.

"Yeah? Well I don't know how ta get back to the old me! I already tried talkin' like I used to and I couldn't! So maybe I should just go jump off a cliff, huh?!" Ed said.

The clan didn't say anything.

"Hey y'know what? I'm outta here!" he said, then he ran as far away from the clan as he could, out into the desert.

After he disappeared over the horizon, the rest of the clan just went back to eating. Except for Abendi and Kamau, the couple looked at each other.

"Who's going to tell the other three when they come back?" Abendi asked Kamau. He meerly smiled and took her paw, Abendi sighed. She knew he was saying it was going to be both of them.

* * *

"HE'S GONE?!" Shenzi and Banzai screamed at Abendi and Kamau. 

"WHADDYA _MEAN_ HE'S GONE?!" they screamed again, looking at them angrily. Abendi and Kamau flinched as Shenzi and Banzai got in their faces. T was watching what was happening behind Shenzi and Banzai.

"He got upset when the clan wouldn't stop giving him a hard time so..." Kamau trailed off.

"So 'e ran off." Shenzi and Banzai finished. They both sighed. Shenzi got up.

"Well, looks like we're gonna hafta go find 'im." she said to Banzai, walking away.

"But ya dunno know where he went to." Abendi said.

"Ed's our friend. We'll find 'im." Shenzi said determinedly. Then she looked at T.

"T, you stay back at the cave just in case Ed comes home." she said.

"Got it." T said, putting her paw up to her forehead in a salute.

"Banzai, let's go." Shenzi said.

"Right behind ya." he said, following her.

Then the three watched as the two went to find their friend.

* * *

Sorry for a short chapter! But I saved the part where they go looking for Ed for the next one. Not saying anymore! R+R! 


	6. Jungle Falls

This chapter, along with chapter 4, is exactly why I made "friendship" as a second category for this story. And for all you Ed fans out there: Don't Worry.

* * *

"Ed! Ed!" Shenzi and Banzai called out as they walked through the hot, dry desert. Shenzi squinted her eyes towards the horizon as she struggled to see past the blinding sun. Suddenly, she heard Banzai call out to her. 

"Shenzi look over here!" he said. She turned in his direction and quickly went to him.

"What?" she said, walking up to him.

"Check it out." he said, looking from her to some paw prints in the sand.

"Think they're Ed's?" Shenzi asked him.

"Only one way ta find out." he said as he pointed his paw towards a dense, green jungle, where the tracks were leading.

"Maybe we should split up; y'know you look in there while I keep lookin' out here." Shenzi said.

But the heat of the sun seemed to intensify on her after she said it. She put her paw in front of her face to shield her eyes.

"On second thought." she said. Then she and Banzai walked into the jungle.

* * *

"Ed! Ed!" they called out again. Shenzi sighed. 

"Where the heck is that boy?" she said as she and Banzai pushed back some broad leaves out of their way.

"Beats me." Banzai said. The two made their way through some thick grass. The green blades wrapped around their legs but they kept going, making the grass wrapped around their legs pull out of the ground.

But then, the two heard rushing water. They walked to where it was coming from. It seemed to be getting louder as they reached a part of the jungle.

"Whoa!" the two said when they almost fell into a raging river at the bottom of a mud cliff they discovered they were at the top of.

"Ok. We just gotta be a _little _more careful." Shenzi said. Then the two started walking along the top of the mud cliff.

But a small vine wrapping around some grass got tangled around Shenzi's leg.

"What the?" she said, but realized she was losing her balance due to the vine pulling on her.

"Whoa!" she said as she started to fall back.

"I gotcha!" Banzai said running up to her, he caught her before she fell near the river's edge. Some rocks did give way because of the vine and the two watched as they fell into the raging river.

Shenzi looked at Banzai, who was still holding her.

"Uh, thanks." she said.

"No problem." Banzai said. After a minute, he let her go. Then the two started walking again.

"Ed! Ed!" the two called out. They failed to notice the ground on the cliff was getting softer and wetter with each step. Suddenly, they looked down when they noticed they were starting to sink.

They looked down and saw they were standing on thick, oozing mud. They pulled their paws out of it. Banzai had trouble getting his left front paw out of the muck.

"Come outta there ya-." he said annoyed as he tried to pull it out. Shenzi tried to help him and painlessly grabbed the back of his neck with her teeth and tugged with him.

But when two pulled together his paw came out of the mud too quick and they lost their balance.

"Whoa!" they said, their arms madly waving in the air as they tried to regain their balance. But then they fell and slid down the muddy cliff side.

"Ahhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh!!!!!!!!!!!!" they screamed as they headed toward the raging water. Banzai was in front of Shenzi and Shenzi was grabbing onto his shoulders and trying to stop them both. They sped towards the bottom and were thrown into the river.

They splashed into the water and came up coughing and gasping for air. Then they looked to their left a few feet ahead of them and saw a waterfall at the end of the river.

"Ahhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!" they screamed as they tried to swim away. But the current was pulling them closer and closer. The two looked back and saw how close they were to the waterfall.

Shenzi tried to find a way to save them both and frantically looked around to see anything that could try to help them. Finally, she saw a rock just a few feet away from the top of the waterfall.

She swam with the current to it, and grabbed onto it with her claws and held on. Then she saw Banzai still trying to swim away. He already passed the rock by a few feet and was inches away from the waterfall.

"Banzai, grab on!" Shenzi yelled, reaching out one paw to him while holding onto the rock with the other one. Banzai swam harder to get to her, and reached his paw out to hers.

Finally she grabbed onto his.

"I got ya!" she said, and pulled him to the rock with her. He grabbed onto it with his claws. Both of them clawed to the other side of the rock, away from the waterfall. Banzai coughed twice.

"Even when Ed's _not_ here 'e gets us into trouble!" Banzai said. Shenzi knew he was partly right, they were in trouble, _deep_ trouble.

Suddenly, the two heard a twig snapping. They looked over to the bank and were appalled to see a depressed looking Ed emerge out of the greenery, looking at the ground.

"ED!" the two called out to him. Ed looked up and saw his friends.

"Guys?!" he said, surprised. Then the current got stronger on Shenzi and Banzai, and was splashing on the rock. Both of them held on harder.

"Ed, help us!" Shenzi yelled from the rock.

"What she said!" Banzai yelled as well.

"Hang on!" Ed yelled, his paws cupped over his mouth. Then Shenzi and Banzai watched as he grabbed a vine with his teeth, and tied it tightly around a fallen log. Shenzi and Banzai tried to hold on as the current kept getting stronger.

Then they saw Ed grab the other end of the vine and run up a fallen branch angled against the mud cliff, then wrapped it around a heavy rock that was up on the top of it. The rock would be strong enough to hold the log. Then he ran back down to the bank.

"Grab on you guys!" he yelled to them, and pushed the log into the water. Ed ran back to the rock and waited. Shenzi and Banzai quickly grabbed onto the log as it flowed downstream.

As soon as Shenzi and Banzai grabbed onto the log Ed shoved the rock over a tree branch, causing the log to come out of the river, Shenzi and Banzai with it, and over the other side of a branch, where Ed was waiting for them.

Shenzi and Banzai lept onto the branch as soon as they could and watched as the log swung around it a few times, causing the vines to wrap around it.

But then the log crashed into Ed and he was sent falling along with it.

"Ed!" Shenzi and Banzai yelled, terrified. They had failed to notice the fact that although Ed looked surprised, he didn't scream.

They looked down at the waterfall and saw Ed on the log, which was still being held on by the vine. He looked down at the mist below him, from the waterfall, and gulped. Then he looked back up at his friends.

Shenzi and Banzai quickly grabbed onto the vine.

"Ed, hold on! We'll pull ya up!" Shenzi said, talking through the vine in her mouth.

"What's the point?" Ed said.

"Back when I couldn't talk, everybody treated me like I was an idiot. And when I finally _could_ talk, everybody looked at me like I was some kinda freak. Maybe I should just cut the vine now." he finished, looking at his claws.

"Ed, stop talkin' like some stupid lion! If you go down, we go down too." Banzai said, also talking through the vine in his mouth.

"Guys no! What about T?" Ed said.

"She doesn't have anybody but us. And let's face it; everybody'd be better off if I just left for good." he finished.

"_We _wouldn't!" Shenzi and Banzai said through the vines in their teeth. Ed looked up at his friends, for a moment, he was quiet.

"Well, when ya put it _that_ way-" he began, looking in thought. But was suddenly cut off by the vine slowly pulling apart.

Shenzi and Banzai's eyes widened when they saw it and tried with all the strength they had to pull Ed up. But suddenly they fell back as the vine finally ripped in two.

"Ed!" they said, and quickly got back up only to watch in horror, as Ed fell down to the falls.

"AHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH!!!!!!!!!!!!" Ed screamed, as he disappeared into the mist.

"ED!!!!!" they screamed.

Shenzi and Banzai couldn't believe what had just happened.

For awhile, they just stared at where Ed had fallen, with their eyes and mouths wide open.

* * *

Please R+R! 


	7. Friends Stick Together To 'The End'

**_This chapter has a shocking discovery!!_** You'll have to read and find out though. Also there's a scene where Shenzi and Banzai see blood, that's another graphic, and another reason I made this a T-rated fic.

* * *

Shenzi and Banzai watched the mist below them. Where but a few minutes ago, Ed had taken a shocking fall. 

They closed their eyes as they let out depressed sighs, but not through their mouths. They glumly looked again at where Ed had fallen. Then looked up when they heard vultures and saw them circling in the air.

"Well, let's go get 'em before the buzzards do." Banzai said. Then the two climbed down the tree and carefully worked their way down the cliff beside the waterfall, too focused on getting to Ed to talk to each other.

Right now, they felt talking about it, wasn't the best thing to do.

* * *

After what seemed like forever to them, they finally reached the bottom of the cliff. But they saw no sign of Ed. 

The two looked worried, they hoped their friend wasn't carried downstream...or worse, _dead_.

They shook the thought from their minds and started calling his name.

"Ed! Ed!" Shenzi and Banzai called out. Then, Shenzi looked towards the river bank and saw something that made her freeze in place. Her eyes were completely wide open, her mouth only slightly open.

She tapped Banzai on the shoulder, not taking her eyes from the sight though. Banzai looked over to where she was pointing and his eyes opened wide too, as did his mouth.

There, on a rock near the river, they saw patches of Ed's fur...

_Covered in blood_.

* * *

_Meanwhile, back at the cave..._

"Where could those three be?" T sighed as she paced back and forth, looking at the floor of the cave she shared with the trio. Abendi and Kamau watched as she continued to pace.

She looked frustrated more than worried and was starting to get restless as to why she wasn't out there looking for Ed along with Shenzi and Banzai.

"Knowing Shenzi and Banzai, they won't come back until they've found Ed." Abendi said.

"And who knows how long that could take." she finished.

"So until then the clan's going to have to go without a matriarch. Or even a second in command for that matter." Kamau said.

"Well who's the second in command?" T asked them, looking up and stopping her pacing. Abendi and Kamau looked at each other.

"Banzai." they said, turning to her.

* * *

Shenzi and Banzai couldn't believe their eyes. Banzai was stunned but when he looked over at Shenzi again, he saw her eyes closed tight and her mouth turned down in a frown. She was trying to hold back crying. 

Finally, she just put her head on Banzai's shoulder and quietly sobbed, the hot tears streaming down her cheeks. Banzai didn't cry but still looked sad.

But he wanted to comfort Shenzi and softly nuzzled her as she continued to cry for their newly departed friend. But after a few seconds of hearing Shenzi silently cry over Ed, they both heard a second voice, crying as well.

This stopped Shenzi from crying and both looked up to see where the other crying was coming from. Above them, through a bunch of leaves on a branch, they could make out a somewhat familiar figure.

They looked at each other, confused. Then, they both walked up to the tree and struggled to climb up to the branch, as hyenas weren't exactly built for climbing.

Then they pulled back another branch in order to see the figure. What they saw next shocked them as much as switching bodies with Simba and Nala.

There they saw him, Ed, facing away from them and crying. It wasn't sad or pain-filled crying, just regular old, pitiful, 'Ed' crying.

**(A/N **and I'm not calling Ed pitiful I'm just labeling what kind of crying he's doing)

Then they saw blood on his left shoulder, some fur was missing from it as well. They figured he must've gotten scraped when he fell from the waterfall. Fortunatley for Ed, the _only_ injury he had obtained was a scrape.

"Ed?!" Shenzi and Banzai said in unision. Ed quickly turned around when he heard his name and was so surprised to see his friends he gave out a short shriek before falling backwards from the branch to the ground below him, but it wasn't enough to hurt him though.

Shenzi and Banzai made their way back to the ground and walked up to Ed who was now rubbing his head with one of his paws.

He looked up at his friends.

"Ed?" they said again. Ed didn't say anything, he just looked around, but alert.

"You're ok?!" they said, relieved smiles appearing on their faces. Ed smiled too and madly nodded his head.

Then Shenzi and Banzai noticed something different about Ed, and yet, strangely familiar as well; his eyes went in two different directions again, his tongue hung out of his mouth again, and he hadn't spoken this whole time.

Shenzi and Banzai looked at each other. Finally, Shenzi spoke up.

"Ed, what's my name?" she asked him. Of course she knew her own name, but wanted to find something out. Ed looked at her, confused.

But after a moment he answered her..._in his own gibberish language again_! Shenzi and Banzai looked a little surprised.

Ed didn't looked surprised when he heard himself; he knew this had happened when he clawed his way out of the river.

* * *

**What happened when Ed fell down the waterfall:**

Ed fell, screaming, and suddenly felt a pain on his left shoulder. A sharp rock, sticking out from the waterfall, had cut into him and scraped some of his fur off.

Finally, Ed felt his back smack into the raging water, and quickly felt himself being submerged in the cold river. He felt himself almost getting crushed by the waterfall's pressure as he sank down.

Ed managed to swim out of it and burst his head out of the water, gasping for air. Finally he managed to swim with the current to the bank and clawed his way out of the river.

And as he was climbing out, he accidentally rubbed his scrape against a rock and howled in pain. But he meant to say "Ow!".

After hearing himself, Ed realized what must've happened; this second near-death experience had caused him to lose his voice. After a few moments of taking it in, Ed was devastated.

Ed felt completely miserable, he saw a tree nearby and walked over to it. Then he began clawing his way up the trunk.

He didn't know what made the climbing harder: his inability to grab onto the branches with ease, or the hot tears blurring his vision.

After what seemed like forever to him, he finally reached a solitary branch, and began crying as hard as he could.

He knew he couldn't go back home, because he learned he wasn't accepted there whether he could talk or not. Plus Shenzi and Banzai would think he was dead and would just give up and go home.

Speaking of whom, because of his crying he hadn't heard Shenzi and Banzai calling his name. Ed gave up hope; there was nothing in the world for him now.

Suddenly, he heard something behind him.

"Ed?!" he heard two voices say. He quickly turned around and saw Shenzi and Banzai looking at him like they couldn't believe their eyes.

Ed was so surprised he let out a shriek which caused him to lose his balance and he fell from the tree branch.

* * *

Ed shrunk back from his friends, nervous after seeing how they reacted. But wanted to know what they would say. For a minute, Shenzi and Banzai were silent. 

"You can't talk anymore can you?" Shenzi asked him. Ed solemnly and slowly shook his head. For awhile, the trio was silent.

But suddenly, Shenzi and Banzai started moving excitedly around him, both talking at the same time.

"Oh man, you nearly gave us a heart attack!" Banzai said, but didn't look mad.

"Yeah, I mean we saw blood and your fur on a rock! I can't believe you're ok!" Shenzi said.

"Yeah, after that fall you took!" Banzai said.

"And only a scrape too!" Shenzi added.

Ed smiled, he knew Shenzi and Banzai would be his friends whether he could talk or not.

The the three ended up laughing about the entire thing, and turned around and made their way to the cave.

Side by side, Shenzi on the left, Banzai on the right, and Ed in the middle of them, the three laughed as they went back home.

* * *

Her lack of patience finally getting the better of her, T stopped pacing. 

"That's it, I'm not waitin' any longer." she plainly and quickly said as she made her way to the exit of the cave.

"Wait!"Abendi and Kamau said as they blocked her from going any further.

"Shenzi and Banzai said to stay here in case Ed comes back." Abendi said.

"If Ed wanted ta come back, he'd 'a come back by now." T said.

"But you've only been waiting-" Kamau said until T cut him off.

"Five hours." T said. Abendi and Kamau looked at the sun,

**(A/N **not directly of course!) and saw that it was in a different part of the sky than it had been the last time they looked.

Had it really been five hours that quickly?

T looked over Abendi and Kamau's shoulders and saw something that made her look both happy and surprised.

While the two were lost in thought, she ran past them and out of the cave. The couple quickly turned around when they realized what had happened, hoping they wouldn't have to chase T down in order to bring her back to the cave.

But when they saw what she had saw, they too, looked surprised and happy.

Shenzi and Banzai were walking back to the cave, Ed with them. They could see T already halfway there.

"Ya found 'im!" T said as she reached the three, who by this time were all sitting up.

"Yeah and it wasn't easy either." Banzai said, hitting one side of his head to get water out of his ear on the other side of it.

"Cool. How ya feelin' Ed?" T asked him. Ed didn't say anything, he was a little shy about letting T know his original way of not talking had returned.

Shenzi and Banzai saw this.

"Well don't be shy this is T you're talkin' to." Shenzi said as she nudged Ed on the shoulder. Ed looked at T for a minute, then finally said he was fine in his gibberish language.

T looked a little surprised but calmed down.

"I'm glad you're fine." she plainly stated. Ed looked relieved and Shenzi gave Ed an 'I told you so' look.

"Well I'm _surprised _he's fine!" Banzai said.

"I mean the guy gets hit by lightning, then learns ta talk. And then 'e falls down a waterfall, and can't talk." Banzai said.

"Huh?" T said. Shenzi and Ed gave Banzai a look. Then the four of them saw Abendi and Kamau walk up.

"Well I hope you two are happy." Shenzi said, crossing her arms.

" 'Cause Ed can't talk no more." she finished. Abendi and Kamau looked at Ed.

"We're sorry Ed." Abendi said to him.

"About everything." Kamau added. Ed didn't look one bit unhappy and just spoke again in the language he loved, and invented.

Abendi and Kamau just looked at Banzai and T.

"He's not!" Banzai said, laughing. T smirked. Abendi and Kamau were glad Ed was ok, and, wanting to give the four some privacy, walked back to their den.

Ed and T talked about what happened while he was away, leaving Shenzi and Banzai to talk with each other.

"Y'know, maybe I could get you or T ta teach me some 'a those, uh, Ed-ism's." Shenzi said to Banzai.

"Uh Shenzi, not ta burst your bubble or anything, but it's kinda somethin' you're born with." Banzai said.

"Hey, I've known Ed just as long as you have. And I can already understand a few words 'e says." Shenzi stated.

"Alright. If ya really wanna." Banzai said.

"Hey! Are you two comin' or what!?" the two heard a voice yell from far away.

They looked over and saw Ed and T, already close to the cave. Shenzi and Banzai quickly ran to catch up to them.

Once they reached the other two they all headed inside. Shenzi and Banzai let T walk up ahead a little once they got inside. Then they turned to Ed.

"Ed you sure you're cool with not talkin' English again?" Shenzi asked him. Ed nodded.

_"Yeah. In fact, I feel sorta, glad I can't talk anymore. Maybe things'll go back to normal now."_ Ed gibberished out.

Banzai looked at Shenzi, she smiled and he knew she could understand him.

" 'Cause we don't care if ya talk gibberish, English, or even Spanish like 'que pasa' over here." Shenzi said, looking at Banzai.

Ed laughed and Banzai rolled his eyes.

"Now let's do somethin' about that shoulder 'a yours." Shenzi said as the trio walked into their cave.

_"Aw, it'll heal."_ Ed gibberished out. Banzai was about to translate it but Shenzi looked at him and he knew she understood.

"Whaddya need lessons for? Looks like ya got things figured out already." Banzai said as the three walked into their cave.

"You gonna talk or ya gonna get dinner for the three of us?" Shenzi said, smirking.

"Hey, it's your turn ta get dinner for the rest of us!" Banzai said.

"Right, like I'm gonna leave T alone with you two." Shenzi said.

"Gee if ya love 'er so much why doncha just marry 'er?" Banzai said.

_"Looks who's talkin'."_ Ed said, laughing.

"What?" Shenzi said, she understood him, just not what he was talking about.

"I'm gonna let that go seein' as how you just fell down a waterfall." Banzai said to Ed.

"Guys, it's my turn ta get dinner." T said, and ran out of the cave.

"Hey, try ta get some zebra!" Shenzi yelled to her.

Then the trio walked into their cave.

* * *

Yeah, Ed can't talk anymore. But I'll be translating him in italics with two apostraphe's in some stories I'll be doing later on. Thoughts will be put in italics with one or none. Hope ya liked it! R+R! 


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